Barry Loper
Once upon a time, I wrote opinion column for the paper. I came to love the discussion “Hard Candy” spurred on Thursday mornings (even if I received a few angry letters here and there.) A community that shares differing opinions translates to an engaged community, and an engaged community is an empowered community. I used to tell people I didn’t need them to think like me; I only wanted the column to make them think.
Newspapers should function not only to give you the news, but to stimulate discussion about the news.
With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce that Ian O’Hara has agreed to pen an opinion column for The Gabber. Ian and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but I like that. He makes me think. It is my fondest hope that he will make you think, too. Please join me in welcoming Ian to Team Gabber as he pens a regular opinion column for us, “Letters From Your Neighbor.” Ian’s column will discuss his thoughts on local happenings, city news, and broader topics. As someone who’s worked for various political candidates and knows his community on a granular level, I suspect Ian will have both popular and unpopular opinions. I look forward to reading both, and I hope “Letters From Your Neighbor” gives you yet another reason to open the Gabber (or a browser window) on Thursday morning.
Speaking of Team Gabber, some of you may have noticed we stopped running food pieces from Jen Ring a while ago. We didn’t mention it at the time, but Jen had to stop because her scleroderma had worsened and she couldn’t work. Jen’s spent the last few months as a full-time resident at Tampa General, but Friday morning she received a badly needed double lung transplant. While she’s going to take a few months to recover, we’re all grateful for the organ donor and surgeon who saved her life, and we look forward to a much healthier Jen returning to work with us (and not just for her tasty photos and food reporting, but because she’s a genuinely wonderful person and we’re happy she’s around!)
Thanks for reading and supporting us,
